The sun was a quarter past the horizon by the time everyone was up, supped, and ready to go. Kevinar had on his shaded goggles, the rest were geared for combat with gear packed and balanced on their shoulders as they prepared for another day’s journey. The mood was jubilant, with everyone bantering and Brandosyeus even treating them to a mid-morning song about the wonders of life without beds.

  I rolled through it all in a daze, my thoughts lost on Jeldorain’s prognostications. As we moved out into the day’s march, I found myself next to Ike, taking up the party’s rear in the formation.

  “Ryan,” began Ike, marching cheerfully near my knee. “How are you feeling today? You seem lost in yerself.”

  I sighed, not sure how much I should tell. If Jeldorain was right, it was probably best that I kept my words to myself. There was something about the kobold, though, that just begged words from my mouth.

  “I worry that maybe I’m in over my head here. A human possessing an infernal in a world full of magic and swordplay, well, that isn’t what I’m used to. Why did the spell choose me even? It’s not like I know what’s what in this world.”

  Ike nodded. “Kobold communities are worlds of their own as well. When I first set out, I was lost. Not afraid to admit it either. People were always shooing me away and keeping me out of their shops. Thought I was going to steal things, I think.”

  I snickered, looking down at him and seeing his eyes go wide with feigned innocence.

  “I wouldn’t have stolen anything important,” he answered, chuckling back. “It’s a bad stereotype us lot are saddled with, but it might not be unearned.”

  We walked a few minutes more in silence, questions and thoughts swirling through my mind. “Adventuring and leveling and magic, those didn’t exist in my world. We just sat around playing games, driving cars to work, having drinking parties at the beach or in the yard. I feel like the magic grabbed the wrong guy.”

  Is that so? Jeldorain asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm. I ignored him, focusing on my friend.

  “Could be. But I doubt it. I’ve seen you in action. You’ll get on fine. Spells of that caliber, they can critically fail and grab the wrong person, but I don’t think that is the case here. You seem like a smart guy, now with a tremendously powerful body, and it makes sense to me that the Goblin Empire would want one such as yourself to take over the reins of its armies and to fully conquer our world.”

  I nodded, but didn’t really feel the gesture. The idea that I was this great champion was so ridiculous in light of where I was. I still knew little of my own body, and barely knew how to live here. I snorted and changed the topic.

  “So, got any tips on dealing with human-infernal friendships?” I asked.

  The kobold tripped with a yelp, tucking and rolling to avoid fall damage. “What?!” he spluttered from the ground, his reptilian cheeks a flash of pink. “You aren’t talking to it, are you?”

  “Don’t really have a choice,” I muttered, reaching down and helping him to his feet. He swept forest detritus from his body, cursing in a language that seemed composed of child yips and monstrous growls.

  “Thanks,” he said, heading back into stride. “Infernals are tricky, is the thing. They are deceitful beings. Often, they require chaos to sustain their presence here in our world. Though that might not be the case for your body, since your human soul is probably anchoring here. Still, I bet old habits die hard.”

  Kevinar I like. Ike, I do not, Jeldorain muttered. Old habits die hard? Don’t talk to an infernal? What does he expect me to do in here, be a mute and silent prisoner?

  I winced under the thunderous barrage of his anger, and Ike frowned. “He doing that?” Ike asked.

  False concern. False pity! Do not trust them!

  I stopped walking, focusing my thoughts into muting the infernal. He shut up, allowing me to get my own thoughts in edgewise. You will let me make my own decisions. Don’t be afraid, if you aren’t misleading me and we really are a team in this, I’ll keep you company. But for all that is holy, let the man talk!

  A wave of grudging acceptance washed through my body, sluicing through ice-clogged veins. I restarted my walk, my focus back on the world around us.

  “He’s part of me,” I finally said, watching Ike’s face closely as I talked. “Whether I like it or not, he’s there. And I’m not going to lock him away. Honestly, Jeldorain is as much a victim in this as I am. Plus he’s seen things, knows things.”

  A lightbulb went off in my head, and Jeldorain barked a laugh. Bout time, dummy, he said as I realized that the missing piece of my existence in this world was him. I didn’t need to know the system because, just like with the leveling and the escape, he was there to fill in the gaps and tell me the things I didn’t know.

  I looked up to the treetops, spotting a long-tailed bird of brown and black plumage. Its wings spread wide as it took flight, the sunlight catching the iridescent sheen on its feathers. The bird's call echoed through the forest, a melodic tune that seemed to resonate with the very essence of the wilderness.

  Jeldorain, what can you tell me about that? I asked him, my eyes still fixed on the bird as it soared gracefully through the sky.

  Jeldorain's presence stirred within me, and I could feel his consciousness focusing on the bird. That is a Lustra Hawk, he began, his voice echoing in the depths of my mind. A majestic creature, native to these woods. The Lustra Hawk is known for its keen eyesight and unmatched agility in flight. Its feathers are often sought after by alchemists and potion makers for their magical properties. The bird's call is said to have the power to soothe even the most troubled of souls.

  He paused. They are solid fighters due to their aerial tactics but aren’t hostile unless provoked. Catching one and consuming its still-beating heart is thought to increase your Luck stat by one point, permanently, one time only, he eagerly added.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I chuckled, and pointed at the flying avian. “Lustra Hawk?” I asked Ike.

  He nodded. “Have them in your world?”

  “Nah. Just have an infernal teacher hanging out in my guts. He knows a lot and being there is going to help us both out.”

  Ike snorted. “Tis the tale of the infernal and the boy. Never ends well, not even when old mum is the one reading it. But, you aren’t wrong. Feel free to come to me when you need something, though. Don’t haggle with the hells, ya hear? It never comes to any good.”

  It never comes to any good mocked Jeldorain. Oooh do I not like Ike. We should hang out with Kevinar. Maybe he’ll have us fight another Cave Bear.

  I scanned the sky, watching as the Lustra Hawk disappeared into the distance, its call fading away.

  Keep your word and help me get home. They’ll come around, I shot back. It was then I noticed the ghostly image of Schustak from the corner of my eye. This shade of him, whatever its reality, was staring at me intently, his gaze unsettling, full of an unreadable emotion. I shot a look to Ike, but he was oblivious to the ghostly apparition.

  Do not trust them, Jeldorain reminded, before fading back to wherever it was he constantly sprang forth from.

  As we continued our journey, the path ahead was filled with dense undergrowth, making progress slow. Yet, every so often, I would feel a prickling on the back of my neck, a sensation that I was being watched. Every time I looked back, I would catch Schustak's shade, its eyes on me. The feeling of suspicion intensified, and the lines between reality and hallucination began to blur. Whispers in the wind sounded like hushed conversations. Shadows seemed to move of their own volition.

  It felt like I was losing my damn mind.

  That evening, as we thankfully ended the day’s march and set up camp at the base of a hill, I kept my distance from the group. I needed clarity, a moment to gather my thoughts. The campfire crackled, its flames casting a warm, orange glow that danced upon the faces of my companions. The scent of burning wood was comforting, a small reprieve from the tension that had built up throughout the day.

  Jeldorain's voice echoed in my mind, cold and clear. You are surrounded by foes. You must act first.

  I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts. “What do you mean?” I whispered, looking around me.

  Before he could answer, a cacophony of battle shouts came from the undergrowth. From the top of the hill, a gaggle of orcs entered eyesight, their shadows long in the waning light of the day. Hooting and hollering, they shook their weapons above them in clear challenge to our group.

  “Orcs never learn, do they,” Jon quipped, his lance appearing in his hand from his inventory. Galloping forward and up the hill, the centaur let out a long high-pitched yell as he charged our foes, his hooves thundering against the rising ground. Ike cursed, pointing at the orcs who were now backpedaling in the face of Jon’s brave attack.

  “No, Jon! It's a trap!” I shouted, suddenly realizing the import of Jeldorain’s words, but it was too late. The rest of the party ran up the slope and I followed, hoping to break them out of whatever mess this would turn out to be.

  Behind us, bulky orcish axemen walked out of forest hiding places, blocking our rear, while from the sides came a hail of javelins, cracking and breaking against our bodies. I took three hits, and watched in dismay as my hit points dipped 13% of their total.

  “Stop the attack!” I yelled. “Pull back to the camp!”

  I caught Ike’s eyes and he nodded, repeating my command. Turning to our flank, I rushed the heavy bushes and scrub, now clearly seeing the figures hidden within.

  “The infernal approaches!” one yelled, a guttural common tongue that surprised me. There were half a dozen, and they charged me enmasse, a wave of green-skinned muscle backed by bone-sabers and hide-bound shields.

  I quickly assessed the situation, my game instincts kicking in. The attackers had a clear strategy, using the terrain and their numbers to their advantage. I stopped my charge, readying myself for the onslaught.

  Luckily the orcish rush was on uneven footing alongside a hill full of exposed roots and mulched leaf-coverings. It made the attack uncoordinated, allowing me to single out one target ten feet before the next. Whipping my stringed blade forward, I caught him in the chest and was pleased to see him go rigid, eyes rolling in panic as ice encased his body.

  My next attack whipped into my target’s shield, the orc throwing it in the way just in time. Activating my Disarm attack, I swung again, missing his saber but wrapping his shield and pulling it from his body. His legs pumped, pushing him into attack range, but before he could swing his saber I whipped him in one fully extended leg.

  CRITICAL HIT! DISMEMBERMENT!

  Jeldorain cackled in glee as the limbs separated from the orc’s body, an anguished scream erupted from the warrior as he rolled down the slope. His friends behind him continued the charge, yelling orcish curses as they did so.

  They were close enough to do damage now, I realized, and I launched myself into the middle of their ranks, smashing the knot at its center with the brutish icy mass of my infernal body, before activating my Whirlwind attack. As my weapon danced in a tornado of bladed fury about me, I was pleased to see that the enemy I’d frozen before had unfrozen and just entered weapons range before I attacked. His eagerness for vengeance against me lost him his head. The other orcs were battered back, another freezing in an angle that suggested he might be dead, and the rest fled into the forest from the direction they had come.

  I turned, entirely unsure of what to expect. Looking on my adventuring party, I saw to my immediate discomfort, Ike deballed one orcish axemen in a move that was both admirable, and sickening. Even Jeldorain shrank back within me, a loud Ooouch echoing through my body. Up the slope, I saw Jon down but his flanks still heaving, blood flowing freely from his wounds. Schustak, of course, was nowhere to be seen,

  Brandosyeus had his back to a tree trunk, heartily singing a song about orcish mothers and the fathers who leave them, while Kevinar stood in front of him, two wickedly glowing blades slashing out to keep the attackers at bay. I saw that these orcs were armed and armored similarly to the ones I’d just run off, and tried to assess the battle field.

  The javelin-throwers are all 3rd level Jeldorain offered. But the ax men that Ike fights alone are 4th. And the ax men that Jon chased up the hill are 5th. This ambush was well-planned, and those warriors are likely to pop out at us whenever we are most inconvienced.

  I nodded. The attack was a feigned retreat, that brought the party into a withering missile barrage. Jon had taken the bait hard, then gotten the crap kicked out of him, and probably the orcs who did it had been sneaking over to where I was now, leveraging for a shot at my back. I cast a glance into the up and to the left of my position, and briefly made out movement.

  Ike is shifty and small. He can hold his own for a while. And Kevinar can outclass that mob anyday I suspect. You up for a blind charge into some tribal champions? I asked, engaging my healing as I did so. My hit points slowly began to tick up as my mana ticked down.

  Summon a skeleton. Then charge.

  I cast about, my eyes falling upon the orc I’d decapitated and wondering if being headless would affect it at all in combat. Didn’t matter, I decided, raising the bone artifact and casting its power.

  The body smoked and sizzled, and the champions emerged from their hiding places, fanning out to take me from all angles.

  Why are they coming out of hiding? I asked.

  Jeldorain chortled. Many of the orc tribesmen fear sorcery. They don’t understand it well. They are afraid of what you are doing, and hope that killing you will stop it.

  I circled the group, moving towards my rising undead ally and wondering what it would be like fighting four 5th level warriors when I was just one level above them. Helping my skeleton to its feet, we both turned and prepared for battle.